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When residents reported hearing harrowing yelps and screams coming from a nearby farm on Jindo Island in South Korea, local authorities investigated. What they found were the typical heart-wrenching scenes of a dog meat farm. I am acquainted with sounds like these. When I have visited these dog meat

It is with immense joy that I report that South Korea’s National Assembly has just passed legislation to ban the dog meat industry. In November, the South Korea government publicly announced that it would support a ban; this historic vote was the final hurdle to make such a ban official.

In a promising move for animal welfare, South Korean Democratic Party Assembly Member Jeoung-ae Han has introduced a legislative bill—called a Special Act—that, if passed, would end South Korea’s dog meat industry. Han’s bill, which is cosponsored by 11 other legislators, would outlaw the breeding

I am glad to share the encouraging story of a Vietnamese cat meat farmer who's just decided to give up the trade and join our campaign for change, transitioning to a humane livelihood and helping us to make the case against dog and cat meat farming.

Each year, millions of homeless pets enter U.S. shelters and approximately two million dogs and cats are euthanized. This is a huge improvement since the 1970s when it was closer to 15 million, but it’s still too many. That’s why ending pet homelessness is a key goal for the Humane Society of the

In recent months, China has made rapid progress toward quashing its infamous wildlife and dog meat trades. Last week, we got more good news on this front: China officially confirmed that dogs are pets and are not livestock for eating; and Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is believed to have

There is unprecedented focus on the challenges of animal welfare in China in the wake of COVID -19. The sharpening international scrutiny of its wildlife markets and wildlife trade will shake up animal protection policy in China and around the world. The news that a new classification scheme issued

An act of bravery has saved 68 dogs just hours before slaughter, and we have local animal activists in China to thank. The rescue happened outside the city of Yulin, the site of the infamous dog meat “festival,” which takes place each year as the summer solstice begins. Activists flagged down a

It’s a long way from dog meat farmer Il-Hwan Kim’s operation in South Korea to Washington, DC. Yet that’s the amazing journey being taken by 170 dogs rescued by Humane Society International’s Animal Rescue Team. Together with more than two dozen other dogs from previous HSI rescue operations who had

When our Humane Society International team first saw the Belgian Malinois, he was sitting forlornly in a cage only slightly larger than he, on a Korean dog meat farm. Dogs belonging to this breed are prized by police departments and the military for their natural ability to detect scents, but Jean

November 17, 2023, was a truly historic day in the fight to end the dog meat industry. In South Korea, where up to one million dogs are farmed and killed for human consumption each year, the government officially presented a roadmap to end the dog meat industry within a three-year period. We’ve been

These are exciting times for the animal protection movement, and especially for those of us who work at the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliates, including Humane Society International and the Humane Society Legislative Fund. The year 2019 has come in with a roar. Already, we’ve

This year has seen incredible wins for animals despite a steady onslaught of Congressional threats and agency rollbacks. On the one hand, there have been attempts to roll back protections for wild animals, like native carnivores in Alaska, and attacks on the Endangered Species Act. The U.S

When our responders rescue dogs from Korea’s dog meat farms, they invariably find the animals living in terrible conditions, in barren outdoor cages with no protection from the heat or the intense winters. Food is inadequate and the animals never feel the grass under their feet or a kind human touch

The dog and cat meat trade worldwide continues to be one of the most pressing companion animal issues of our time. An estimated 30 million dogs and millions of cats—including stolen pets, dogs and cats taken from the streets or farmed—are trafficked and slaughtered every year. These animals suffer

Shanghai is now hosting the 2019 World Dog Show, an event billed as a “joyful gathering for dog lovers and lovely dogs across the world.” Meanwhile, at restaurants just a few miles away, diners will partake of meat from dogs just as beautiful and lovable as the ones in the show. The irony is

It is a beautiful scene that never gets old no matter how many times we watch it: a dog who has endured a life of extraordinary suffering meeting her new parent at her new home for the first time and bonding instantly. But Korean-American actor Daniel Henney fell in love with Juliette, a young

In a blow to horses, the Trump administration has postponed implementation of a long-overdue federal rule to combat horse soring—–the deliberate infliction of pain on horses' legs and hooves to force an exaggerated gait—delaying enforcement until February 2026 and opening the door to even further

Note: This blog is part of a series highlighting how we fight—and win—for animals . This post focuses on our direct care, rescue and sanctuary work. Previous posts have covered how we’re ending the worst forms of institutionalized animal suffering through our efforts with corporations and

This week, Humane Society International staff is on the ground in South Korea, closing down the 16th dog meat farm in our campaign there and rescuing 70 dogs destined for a grim future on the butcher’s block. Among the dogs we found on site are poodles, beagles, huskies, golden retrievers